The score that the average golfer makes in a round of golf is greatly influenced by the number of strokes he takes on the green, that is, the number of putts necessary to place the ball in the golf hole. When faced with a long putt a golfer often may take three or more putts before he places the ball in the golf hole. Most golfers recognize that improved putting skill is one of the most expedient ways of reducing golf scores. The golfer's chief problem is not in hitting the ball in the proper direction, but in hitting it with sufficient force so that it will roll the proper distance. Consequently, golfers may spend many hours on rainy days and during the winter months practicing indoors using one of the many conventional putting practice assemblies available on the market.
Conventional putting practice assemblies may be devices such as a small carpet having an inclined ramp at one end where a hole or recessed cup is located. Alternately, the conventional putting device can be a special carpet having an array of rotatable pegs placed just beyond the path swept by a perfectly stroked putter, which if knocked over, identify an imperfect stroke of the putter. Another conventional type of putting practice device is one that returns golf balls automatically after they have been putted toward a target of some sort. All conventional putting devices, however, apply to the practice of rather short length putts under 12 feet in length.
Conventional assemblies have been proposed for use as game devices which incorporate a spirally arranged track, such as, those devices disclosed in U.S Pat. Nos. 1,818,700; 2,157,023; and 3,324,726. However, none of the conventional assemblies disclosed in these U.S. patents is capable of being utilized as a putting practice device which correlates linear distance to spiral distance as contemplated by the present invention.
As noted above, a golfer will need to practice substantially longer putts of larger than 12 feet, such as, putts of 25 to 40 feet in length, if noticeable improvement in his golf scores are to be realized. Should a golfer fail to place the ball in the hole on a long putt but strikes the ball to impart sufficient velocity to get it near the hole, he is virtually certain of reaching the golf hole in two putts, thereby reducing his stroke count for that hole by a minimum of one stroke. Thus, in an eighteen hole round of golf, a golfer could improve his golf score by a minimum of eighteen strokes.
The conventional assemblies noted above do not provide a golfer with the necessary distance to improve his putting when faced with a long putt. Thus, although certain conventional assemblies may provide a measure of practice for short putts, there is no practice for the substantially longer putts which a golfer often encounters in a round of golf.
The putting practice apparatus according to the present invention, however, offers a device by which an average golfer can improve his putting proficiency for substantially long putts. Thus, when a golfer is putting from long distances which would normally require too many strokes to place the golf ball into the hole, the present invention can provide a measure of practice for the long distance putts. The apparatus according to the present invention generally provides a spiral track and a rolling surface which has a predetermined roughness so that a correlation between the linear distance that a golf ball will roll upon a natural grain and the distance upon which the golf ball will roll along the spiral track of the present invention is achieved. The predetermined correlation between the linear distance and the distance which the golf ball will roll along the spiral track of the present invention is important to the golfer's putting stroke calibration, that is, the strength of the stroke necessary to impart sufficient velocity for a putt of a predetermined length.
The spiral track can have a material which has a sufficient roughness to translate into a direct one-to-one correlation between the linear distance and spiral distance or, can be of a material which is generally rougher than a natural putting green so that a less than one-to-one correlation is achieved thereby enabling a golfer to practice his putting strokes of even greater lengths of up to 80 feet or more. The apparatus according to the present invention can be used with several variations which simulate uphill and downhill putts as are often encountered in a round of golf. As such, the apparatus according to the present invention is quite useful as a teaching tool or as a promotional device for the sales of putters. It is presently contemplated that the apparatus according to the present invention can either be permanently installed in an indoor facility or readily assembled and disassembled for transportation or storage.
As will be discussed in more detail below, the apparatus according to the present invention can be provided with several features including a ball return feature, a target feature, or obstacles placed in the path of the spiral track for game purposes. In such assemblies, the present invention offers a wide variety of utilization suitable for the entire family of all age groups.